L'OREAL

In 1909, Eugène Paul Louis Schueller, a young French chemist of German descent, developed a hair dye formula called Auréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then sold to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July 1919, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France). The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became L’Oréal, were research and innovation in the field of beauty. In 1920, the company employed three chemists. By 1950, the teams were 100 strong; that number reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 20,000 today.